Badger Clark
Charles Badger Clark, Jr. (January 1, 1883 - September 26, 1957) was an American cowboy poet.Badger Clark Memorial Society, biography Dakota Wesleyan University biography Black Hills Visitor Magazine biography Marsha Trimble, "Who is Badger Clark?," True West Magazine, 08/25/2009. Life Clark was born on January 1, 1883 in Albia, Iowa.South Dakota Public Broadcasting biography His family moved to Dakota Territory (now South Dakota, where his father served as a Methodist preacher in Huron, Mitchell,, Deadwood, and Hot Springs. He dropped out of Dakota Wesleyan University after a clash with a founder of the university, C.B. Clark. He traveled to Cuba, then returned to Deadwood, where he contracted tuberculosis. He then moved to Tombstone, Arizona to assuage his illness with the dry weather. He again returned to South Dakota in 1910 to take care of his ailing father. There, he once agin contracted tuberculosis. In 1925, he moved to a cabin (the "Badger Hole") in Custer State Park, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where he lived for 30 years. Badger Hole His work was published in Sunset Magazine, Pacific Monthly, Arizona Highways, Colliers, Century Magazine, the Rotarian, and Scribner's. He died on September 26, 1957. Recognition In 1937, Clarke was named the Poet Laureate of South Dakota by Governor Leslie Jensen.Badger Clark Memorial Society, homepage In popular culture His poem entitled "Lead by America" was performed by the Fred Waring Chorus in 1957. In 1969, Bob Dylan recorded 'Spanish is the Loving Tongue'. In America by Heart, Sarah Palin quotes Clarke's poem entitled "A Cowboy's Prayer" as a prayer she likes to say.Sarah Palin, America by Heart: Reflections on family, faith, and flag. New York: HarperCollins, 2010, 230-231 Publications Poetry *''Grass-Grown Tales''. Boston: R.G. Badger, 1917. *''Sun and Saddle Leather: A collection of poems''. Boston: R.G. Badger / Toronto: Copp Clark, 1919; Stockton, CA: Westerners, 1962; Custer, SD: Badger Clark Memorial Society, 1993. **''Sun and Saddle Leather; including Grass-Grown Tales and new poems''. Boston: Goreham Press for R.G. Badger, 1922. *''Spike''. Boston: R.G. Badger, 1925; Ripon, WI: George Smokey, 1962; Custer, SD: Badger Clark Memorial Society, 1991. *''When Hot Springs Was a Pup''. Hot Springs, SD: Kiwanis Club, 1927; Hermosa, SD: Lame Johnny Press, 1976. *''God of the Open''. Rapid City, SD: Black Hills United Methodist Historical Society, 1981. *''Sky Lines and Wood Smoke''. Custer, SD: Chronicle, 1935. *''Boot and Bylines''. Custer, SD: Chronicle, 1935, 1973. *''Singleton''. New York: Saint Martin's Press / Robert Hale, 1978. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Badger Clarke, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Nov. 8, 2019. Audio / video *''Badger Clark reads poems by Badger Clark'' (LP). Vermilion, SD: University of South Dakota, 1957-1961? See also *Cowboy poets *List of U.S. poets References *Jessi Y. Sundstrom: Badger Clark, Cowboy Poet with Universal Appeal, Custer, S.D., 2004 Notes External links ;Poems *"A Cowboy's Prayer" *Badger Clark Poems at South Dakota Historical Society (6 poems) *Charles Badger Clark at Cowboy Poetry ;Books * * ;About *Badger Clarke: South Dakota's first poet laureate, South Dakota Historical Society *Charles Badger Clark, Jr. at BH Visitor Category:1883 births Category:1957 deaths Category:People from Albia, Iowa Category:Dakota Wesleyan University alumni Category:People from Custer County, South Dakota Category:American male poets Category:Tuberculosis Category:Poets from Iowa Category:Poets from South Dakota Category:Poets Laureate of South Dakota Category:Cowboy poets